Roma to sell Benatia to balance the books

Roma look set to sell defender Mehdi Benatia in order to settle their finances after a summer of spending.

It was thought the club were keen to keep hold of their star defender but now they may have to sell him, with the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona interested.

According to Il Corriere della Sport, those in charge at Roma have changed their policy towards the Moroccan international.

Benatia has only been with Roma for one season after moving from Udinese last summer, but impressed throughout the previous campaign and Roma would expect to make a sizeable profit on the €13.5 million they spent on the player 12 months ago.

The Giallorossi have already spent big in the summer transfer window bringing in the likes of Juan Iturbe and Salih Ucan.

The club may also decide to sell forward Adem Ljajic, however, the expected fee of €11 million is someway short of the estimated €25 million that the side are likely to earn from selling their players.